Jizhou.
Among the nine states, Jizhou is most famous for its thousands of miles of ice fields.
Jizhou is located in the northernmost part of Kyushu. The climate is extremely cold and it is covered in frost all day long.
A great scholar once traveled here and wrote a chapter that will be handed down for generations.
"The scenery of the North Country is covered with ice for thousands of miles and snow drifting for thousands of miles. Looking at the vastness inside and outside the Great Wall, the rivers up and down suddenly stop rolling. Silver snakes are dancing in the mountains, and wax figures are riding in the mountains. They want to compete with the gods. The sun needs to be clear to see the silver dress. The plain wrap is extremely enchanting.”
Although the ice and snow in Jizhou are so beautiful in the eyes of the southern Confucian scholars, these are ordinary things to the people of Jizhou.
…………
"The people behind are all following me. Work harder, work harder. As long as we reach the town in front, we can rest. By then, the boss can treat us to drink good wine and eat good meat. .”
"Brothers, work harder! One, two, three, let's go!"
"One, two, three, let's go!"
A somewhat strange team that looked like merchants was slowly driving on the road.
The road frozen by the hard ice was very slippery, making it difficult for the carriage wheels and horse hooves to apply force, and they would slip if not careful.
Therefore, most caravans will hire a few strong hands to help push the carriage. If possible, they will directly invite warriors to avoid losing the goods.
The reason why this caravan looks strange is because generally merchant teams have a large amount of goods, so the queue of carriages is very long, but this caravan only has three simple carriages pulling the goods, and one The carriage pulled a very crude-looking carriage.
A middle-aged man, about forty or fifty years old, was riding a horse and walking at the front of the team. He was the one who just said those words of encouragement.
This man was dressed in black cotton clothes, his angular face was outlined with the vicissitudes of time, and there was a hideous scar on the back of his hand holding the horse's rein.
His name is Li Qingfeng, a well-known private bodyguard on the border between Yongzhou and Jizhou.
The so-called private escort is a person who specializes in escorting goods to be smuggled across the border.
Because the volume of border trade has always been large, and the border commissions are extremely high, some border crossings will even resort to shady tactics and withhold important goods. Therefore, some merchants cannot even make much money, and they have to endure things that may happen at any time during their business journey. accident.
Therefore, some people who were familiar with the border terrain came up with the idea to earn commissions by taking these merchants who did not want to pass through the border crossing to the other side.
Of course, some powerful private bodyguards will also act as bodyguards to prevent merchants from encountering unexpected events on the road.
Li Qingfeng received a big deal this time. He was responsible for transporting a team of merchants from Yongzhou to Jizhou, and the construction period may be extended in the future.
The employer was very nice to talk to and even paid him part of his wages in advance.
Li Qingfeng was not hesitant, and took the order with his twelve brothers.
As in the past, he had discussed with his employer in advance the situations he might encounter along the way and what he should do in different situations, and the employer agreed to them one by one.
Qingfeng Li felt that something was wrong. Generally, businessmen who dared to take risks and did not go through the border checkpoints were either guilty of crimes, and there were criminals with wanted portraits hanging at the checkpoints, or it might not be easy to transport them by themselves.
Qingfeng Li is only a third-grade warrior, and the brothers who work for him are also first- and second-grade warriors. Being cautious is the magic weapon that allows him to support his wife and children and is still alive.
He knew clearly that the cause of death of some of his fourth- and fifth-grade colleagues was one word: greed.
The human heart is not enough for a snake to swallow an elephant.
Some orders are beyond the reach of rotten fish like them.
There is little traffic on the border, but soldiers at the border crossing often patrol back and forth.
These soldiers have the right to directly kill people who cross the border privately, but under normal circumstances, they will not do such a thing.
Unless the border crossers refuse to pay them honestly.
The soldiers did not have much patience for this group of border crossers. The price they demanded was much higher than the commission charged by the border crossing. After all, since this group of people refused to leave through the border crossing, they had to be mentally prepared to be caught.
Soldiers also know that they cannot catch all the money they want, so after getting the money they want, they usually let these people go.
However, if there is a problem with these people's goods or people, those soldiers may not let them go so easily.
So Qingfeng Li specifically asked the boss what the goods were being transported.
Of course, he was prepared for the result that his boss would ignore him. After all, these merchants chose to cross the border privately, most likely because they were afraid of being interrogated by the soldiers at the border crossing.
The result was beyond Qingfeng Li's expectation. The boss was very generous and let him see it by himself.
This was an incredible sight, and Qingfeng Li was dumbfounded at the time.
The goods in the three carts were all local specialties, such as steamed bun slices from Yumenguan in Yongzhou, mutton soaked steamed buns, several medicinal herbs unique to the medicine city, various teas, and even some Souvenirs from attractions…
These goods are not worth much. Even if they go through the border crossing, the soldiers will not charge too much tolls.
However, Qingfeng Li changed his mind and thought, since there was no problem with the goods, then there could only be a problem with the boss's identity.
However, he secretly looked at the boss's face for a long time, but he couldn't find a matching face among the wanted portraits hung at border crossings in his mind.
…………
"Breeze, it's really cold here in Jizhou!" A slightly weathered face poked out of the carriage.
The wrinkled face revealed the exhaustion of the dusty journey, but his eyes were full of brilliance.
Qingfeng Li looked at the boss, who was estimated to be in his fifties or sixties, with some curiosity, and then asked after careful consideration, "Boss, why don't you tell me that you can go directly to Guankou Avenue for such a small amount of goods? The money those soldiers want, It costs less than asking us to take you across the border on a trail, and you don’t have to put in so much effort and suffer so much.”
Li Qingfeng knew very well that even middle-aged people like him who walked on this trail all year round felt very tired and a little overwhelmed, so they were all a little worried about this ordinary-looking old man.
You must know that in order to avoid running into border patrol soldiers, the roads they choose are either dense forests full of thorns or swamps infested by various snakes, insects, rats, and ants.
This journey lasted three days and three nights, especially the last section of the road, where we climbed a small snow-capped mountain, which was even more difficult and dangerous.
The thick snow on the ground made it difficult for the carriage pulling the goods to move.
OK.
Qingfeng Li could only carry the goods with a dozen brothers, while the coachman led the horses to walk hard on the snow.
Several times along the way, the coachmen who were holding the horses and not carrying the goods staggered and almost fell to the ground. On the contrary, the boss had been following Qingfeng Li calmly, and looking left and right, looking very nervous. Be spirited.
This made Li Qingfeng have to wonder if this old man who looked thin and frail was a master who had hidden his cultivation.
But no matter how he sensed it, he couldn't sense any warrior aura in the old man.
"Haha, I told you, I just want to walk around and take a look. Just think of it as the last obsession of a dying old man before his death!" Zhang Wanwan said with a smile, "I am old now, and I have earned every extra day I live."
Li Qingfeng shook his head, but he did not understand the meaning of Zhang Wanwan's words.
Zhang Wanwan slowly got out of the carriage and sat next to the coachman outside.
"Ahem!"
After leaving the warm compartment, the coldness of the outside world hit him instantly, and Zhang Qianqian coughed twice.
The coachman wanted to persuade him to go back, but Zhang Wanwan interrupted him.
"You are still young and don't understand these things. I was just like you at the beginning. After I got married and started a business, I just wanted to work hard to make money. I wanted to stand out and be admired by thousands of people. I want to get all the fame and fortune. I have been busy for most of my life. , and in the end, I really got the fame and fortune I wanted in the first place." Zhang Wanwan said sadly.
Li Qingfeng slowed down, looked at Zhang Wanwan's old and weathered appearance, and listened carefully to what he said. He felt that this old man was burdened with many things.
"What happened next?" Qingfeng Li asked, "What do you do? Where are you from?"
"Haha, I'm just a small businessman in Chang'an City." Zhang Wanwan smiled and then said, "A lot of things, you won't find out until you actually get them. Those fame, profit Ah, it will not bring you any enjoyment, it will only bring endless shackles and restraints, and finally make you fall into endless emptiness."
Zhang Wanwan's emotional tone made Li Qingfeng fascinated for a moment.
Suddenly, he seemed to see an old man sitting on the Iron Throne, with his back to the prosperous palace, facing the sunset alone.
"Human, you will face death one day, and then you will realize that the beauties around you are like jade, the gold, and the admiration of thousands of people are all illusions. The only proof that can truly prove your existence in this life is you. Heartfelt."
There are hundreds of thousands of fireworks in the world, and I wish I could see them all in my lifetime.
Looking at the old man's straight back, Qingfeng Li suddenly felt a sense of clarity in his heart.
Perhaps for him, this last journey of life should be spent with a young mentality.
This is to make up for the glorious time wasted when I was young and the original intention lost in the long years of chasing fame and fortune.
“I want to climb a mountain, see snow, get caught in the rain, and write a poem.
There are so many wonderful places in this world, and I want to experience them all!
If you had given me one ounce of gold and one ounce of wind when I was young. "
Zhang Qianwan looked at the extremely deep sky, and countless snowflakes fell, which made his head turn white for a moment.
